The Great Thief

Lu Li didn’t care that much about the appearance that he would reject an item because it didn’t match his aesthetic.

In Dawn, the same piece of equipment would automatically change its appearance when worn by a male or female. When transforming into the female form, it could even gain some extra features like flowers.

Of course, Lu Li paid more attention to the Attributes of the equipment than its looks.

Phantom Cloak (Dark Gold): Armor 65, Agility +40, Strength +20, Constitution +10, Movement Speed +15%. Special Effect 1: Phantom Swiftness. Increases movement speed by 200% for 30 seconds after use. 2-minute cooldown. Can only be used out of combat. Special Effect 2: Phantom Assault. Three illusions appear behind a target. Each phantom has 40% Attack power and lasts for 20 seconds. 30-minute cooldown. Special Effect 3: Hidden Mirage. Enter Stealth upon use. Stealth effect is increased by 200% and movement speed increased by 300%. Equipment Requirement: Level 45. Exclusive for Thieves. Durability 150/150.

After seeing its Attributes, Lu Li couldn’t help but take a deep breath. He had seen this cloak before.

This kind of cloak wasn’t unique, and the last time he had seen one was during his previous life in an Instance Dungeon run.

At the beginning, the leader said that everyone had the opportunity to roll for an item they wanted. However, when this cloak was dropped, he completed abandoned all his morals. This single item completely corrupted him.

This was the nature of wild parties. The leader of the party had the right to all the items, and he could shamelessly take them all if he wanted to.

This was why Lu Li valued his team so much in this life, even at the expense of his own interests. He had managed to convince some players to join him, and he had never been greedy because of equipment.

Lu Li’s current cloak was far worse than this one.

Voodoo Cloak (Superior Gold): Amour 45, Agility +30, Strength +16, Movement Speed +6%. Special Effect 1: Stealth increased by 18%. Special Effect 2: Instant Cast. Increases movement speed by 40% when running towards a target, and increases the damage of the first skill to the target by 30%. Lasts for 3 seconds. 2-minute cooldown. Equipment Requirement: 40. Durability 115/115.

The reason Lu Li held onto it was because it was part of a set. Unless he could find an item that could replace not only its Attributes, but also the bonus Attributes of the Voodoo set, he had no other option. Without the set effects, the Voodoo items were fairly average.

One of the biggest benefits of the Phantom Cloak was its increase in movement speed.

The fact that it couldn’t be used in combat would normally limit the effect’s usefulness, but that didn’t matter for Lu Li’s participation in the marathon.

“Thank you. This equipment is quite exquisite. How did you get it?” Lu Li asked in curiousity.

“I killed someone who dropped it,” Water Fairy said arrogantly. As an expert female player, she had naturally received much skepticism. Many believed that her reputation was solely due to her appearance.

“Did that poor guy delete his character and restart?” Lu Li suddenly felt some sympathy for the murdered man.

“It was Peacetime Dynasty’s Song of Sorrow. I don’t what happened, but I was levelling and he used Cheap Shot on me. Eventually, I ended up killing him and he dropped this cloak. I don’t know what kind of star player he is,” Water Fairy explained proudly.

Song of Sorrow from Peacetime Dynasty was a highly regarded Thief player. His rise to fame was a bloodstained one; the bodies of numerous players paved his way.

“Did he not ask you to return it?’ Lu Li asked jokingly.

“He probably wouldn’t; he wouldn’t be able to bear the shame. When he was coming up, I was still a novice,” Water Fairy grinned and continued to gloat.

“When we get back, I’ll give you a copy of Stratholme’s strategy,” Lu Li offered. He hesitated for a moment before deciding that sharing the strategy wouldn’t really affect him anyway. The two following Bosses were even more difficult to deal with, and they were already several Bosses ahead.

“Alright.”

Water Fairy’s lips smiled slightly and she did not refuse.

The two then went their separate ways; it was almost the end of the day. Before leaving, they agreed to do another quest next time.

What was supposed to be a very difficult quest turned out to be fairly easy when Lu Li joined.

The next day, Lu Li completed his daily quests within the Plaguelands, and prepared himself to participate in the marathon qualifiers. If he could stand out in the three rounds of qualifiers, he would be chosen as a part of the top 100 from which the three final winners were chosen.

Lu Li was aiming for one of the top two positions. Even if he couldn’t get the Epic equipment, he would at least rise a level.

The third place reward was said to be a combination of EXP and equipment. The amount of EXP was nothing like the amount received in second place and the equipment was a far cry from what was offered in first place. Lu Li wasn’t really interested in any of it.

Everyone was standing at the start of the track. After the loud bang of the gun, all of the players rushed out from the starting line.

The distance was 26 miles and 385 yards, which was equivalent to 42 kilometers. The length of the track in the game was even longer, and the terrain was also extremely complex.

There were rugged mountain roads, muddy swamps, deep waters…

For the marathon, the game also specifically included a stamina bar. Each participant had a stamina

value of 100 points.

The faster they ran, the quicker the stamina fell, with leopards and horses consuming more stamina than staying in humanoid form. If you flew, this would also consume more stamina. Otherwise, Lu Li could just become a crow and cross the finish line.

The stamina value wouldn’t just run out after it was used either. Depending on your Attributes, your stamina value would constantly regenerate.

The fastest way to regenerate stamina was by standing. If you flew, there would be almost no regeneration. As such, the challenge for the players was to allocate the correct timing for moving

and resting.

However, the players were quite intelligent. In the first round, by the time they had finished, most had slowly formed a set of feasible strategies.

Of course, none of these strategies that were figured out in such a short time could compare with Lu Li’s. He did not participate in these competitions in his previous life, nor did he specifically study them, but he had heard more than enough from other players talking about it.